Impressions (Laura Nyro album)

Infobox Album | Name = Impressions
Type = compilation album
Artist = Laura Nyro


Released = 1980
Recorded = New York City, 1966 - 1970
Genre = Pop
Label = Embassy Records (UK)

Producer = Laura Nyro, Herb Bernstein, Milt Okun, Roy Halee, Felix Cavaliere, Charlie Calello, Arif Mardin
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5| Last album = "Nested"
(1978)
This album = "Impressions"
(1980)
Next album = "Mother's Spiritual"
(1984) |

"Impressions" is the first compilation retrospective album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro.

It was released in the UK in 1980 and features material from her first four albums for Verve and Columbia Records, completely omitting material after 1970. Therefore, the track listing is very odd and tilted towards Nyro's earlier work rather than also showcasing her other 1970s albums.

The album was released seemingly without Nyro's approval or knowledge in order to make money out of her songs or return her to the charts, but both failed and "Impressions" remains out of print, having never been issued on CD. Nyro curated her own far superior retrospective album, "", shortly before her death in 1997.

Overview

"Impressions" brings together both some of Nyro's best-known songs and also hidden gems, making it more adventurous than standard retrospectives and more representative of her work - but it fails to bring Nyro's career up to date. Considering it was released in 1980, it completely neglects any material from her previous four albums, instead concentrating from material on her first four albums - "More Than A New Discovery" (1967), "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968), "New York Tendaberry" (1969), and "Christmas and the Beads of Sweat" (1970). The earliest material was recorded in 1966 when Nyro was just 18.

"Impressions" was not a commercial success and remains rare and out-of-print. A vastly superior retrospective album was released in 1997 with Nyro's input.

Analysis

"Impressions" leans strongly on material from Nyro's second opus, 1968's "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession", which became a cult favourite. Her debut album "More Than A New Discovery" features the majority of her best-known work, and three songs from the album are featured here, with the same number from 1970's more mystical "Christmas and the Beads of Sweat". Unsurprisingly, Nyro's challenging 1969 work "New York Tendaberry" is the source of only two inclusions; surprisingly, however, that difficult album remains Nyro's highest-charting album and her only US Top 40 entry.

Nyro released the covers album "Gonna Take a Miracle", the live album "Season of Lights", and two new studio albums in "Smile" and "Nested", yet none of those albums feature any inclusions on this "best-of." This was rectified with "Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro" some 17 years later.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Laura Nyro

TITLE	ORIGINAL ALBUM
"Map to the Treasure"	"Christmas and the Beads of Sweat" (1970)
"Captain Saint Lucifer"	"New York Tendaberry" (1969)
"Christmas In My Soul"	"Christmas and the Beads of Sweat" (1970)
"Wedding Bell Blues"	"More Than A New Discovery" (1967)
"Stoned Soul Picnic"	"Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968)
"Save the Country"	"New York Tendaberry" (1969)
"Sweet Blindness"	"Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968)
"The Confession"	"Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968)
"Beads of Sweat"	"Christmas and the Beads of Sweat" (1970)
"And When I Die"	"More Than A New Discovery" (1967)
"Eli's Comin'"	"Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968)
"Stoney End"	"More Than A New Discovery" (1967)
"Emmie"	"Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" (1968)

Miscellanea

* "Impressions" was apparently released without Nyro's knowledge or consent.
* It is the first Laura Nyro retrospective album, coming 14 years after her first recordings.
* It features material only from 1966-70, missing out her four albums between 1971 and the album release in 1980.
* It is the first of three Laura Nyro retrospective collections, the others being 1997's definitive "Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro" and the similarly blinkered "Time and Love: The Essential Masters" from 2000, concentrating on her earlier material.
* Nyro was in a period of semi-retirement when it was released, as she was living with her young son in Danbury. She did not release another album until 1984.